Jade City

Anden picks up a secret package for Lan and delivers it to the estate. When he finds Lan in the training room, Lan makes Anden practice Deflections—Anden’s weakest skill. When Lan is critical of him in a rare display of bad temper, Anden notices that Lan’s aura is imbalanced. Lan is experiencing intense mood swings, going from anger to odd seriousness as he tells Anden to prepare for war. When Lan steps out of the room momentarily, Anden opens the package to find SN1. Lan discovers him and is furious, insisting that the drug is a temporarily essential measure to help Lan adjust to his new jade while he heals. He does not want to seem weak to the outside world. Anden promises to keep Lan’s drug use a secret, but feels uneasy about his cousin’s state.

The Green Bone calls on Bero and Cheeky to use their guns to shoot up the Lucky Divine. While they wreak havoc, they should also keep an eye out for Lan’s car—if they see it, they should shoot it as well. Bero demands to be given jade after, but the Green Bone makes no promises.

Shae attends Anden’s relayball match at Kaul Dushuron Academy. At dinner afterward, Anden suggests that Shae check on Lan because he seems uneasy, but she encourages Anden to enjoy his remaining time as a student and ignore clan business. She shares that she has found a job that will keep her away from Kekon for half the year. Anden expresses his dismay at losing her again so soon.

Shae goes to the Temple of Divine Return to meditate on her feelings about the new job. While there, she asks the gods for a sign to show her the right path forward.

Hilo calls Lan with firm confirmation that Doru is working with Mountain and taking secret payments. Lan authorizes Hilo to apprehend Doru and informs Woon that he is the clan’s new Weather Man.

Alone, Lan considers a letter he recently received from his ex-wife Eyni. He leaves it sealed, not wanting to reopen old wounds.

Lan goes to the Lilac Divine to waste time before Hilo’s call. He enjoys the services of Yunni, a sex worker at the club, takes SN1 to steel himself for the confrontation with Doru, and leaves to find a taxi. Outside, just as Bero and Cheeky prepare to shoot at the Lilac Divine, Bero sees Lan and decides to abandon the job and pursue him instead. He believes that if he kills Lan, he will be greatly rewarded by Mountain.

Lan senses Bero and Cheeky following him and makes for a walkway near the sea. When the young men continue their pursuit, Lan is shocked. Suddenly, he feels intense pain and realizes that he accidentally took too much SN1. As the overdose affects him, Bero and Cheeky sneak up and fire. Lan uses his jade’s magic to deflect the bullets, killing Cheeky. Lan recognizes Bero as the jade thief from the Twice Lucky, but before Lan can kill him, the SN1 overpowers Lan and Bero escapes. Feeling as though he is on fire, Lan tries to get to the water, where he trips and falls off the pier.

In Deitist myth, a man named Jenshu set out with his family to find the ruins of the jade palace the gods had once built for their children. He found the ruins in Kekon, where he became a pious mountain man with godlike knowledge and abilities. The gods allowed him to ascend to heaven and the Green Bones trace their lineage to his nephew, Baijen, who became the island’s protector after Jenshu’s ascension. Deitists believe that when humanity achieves the Divine Virtues of humility, compassion, courage and goodness, they will follow Jenshu in the Return.

Hilo calls Shae early in the morning to tell her that Lan was found drowned. On the way to the Kaul estate, she retrieves her jade from a safety deposit box at the family bank. She dons her jade and feels its power come rushing back.

When she arrives at the house, she finds Hilo and his men in the kitchen. She wants to join in him in what comes next. In their grief, Hilo promises Shae to kill all their enemies. Shae and Hilo are finally united.

At the bar where he and his men are drinking, Gont Asch receives a warning that Hilo is coming for him. Gont Asch clears the civilians from the area and gathers every nearby Fist and Finger to help defend the place. He plans to murder Hilo.

Shae convinces Hilo to not be hasty by heading right for Gont Asch, and instead strategizes a coordinated attack. They send out decoy cars to convince Mountain that they are seeking Gont Asch, but instead go to the Armpit with reinforcements to claim Mountain’s prized betting houses. Mountain is caught off guard. Shae and Hilo make quick work of it: Shae kills two Green Bones, and No Peak claims the area. Even after the attack, though, Hilo wants more revenge.

Receiving news of the deception and loss of the betting houses, Gont Asch declares open war on No Peak to his men.

Shae wakes the next day in her childhood bedroom and finds Hilo in the kitchen. He tells her that Kaul Sen is struggling with the news of Lan’s death and that Doru is securely locked away without his jade. Mountain is coming for them, and Hilo, now Pillar of No Peak, asks Shae to be his Weather Man. Shae realizes that this is her message from the gods. Knowing that no one else would be able to keep the rash and reactive Hilo in check, she agrees and swears her loyalty to him.

In the aftermath of their attack on Lan, Bero goes to an all-night clinic and gets his shallow bullet wounds stitched up. As he leaves, he hears that Lan is dead. In his mind, Bero decides that he can claim the death as his doing. Bero walks back to Mudt’s store, expecting a warm welcome and big reward, but is met with incredulity. Mudt tells him that he is an idiot; his mission was to merely harass Lan, not start a clan war through the murder of a Pillar. Mudt sends Bero away down a secret tunnel, telling him to flee the city before Mountain finds and kills them both. Bero, whose luck has once again turned sour, is livid in his retreat.

At Lan’s funeral, Hilo worries about people deferring to his grandfather as Pillar when they greet the family. He knows he must solidify power, but Kaul Sen’s presence and status shows how much Hilo must do to be seen as No Peak’s unquestioned leader.

There is a momentary truce as each clan buries their dead. Hilo wants to make sure that his family presents an image of strength at the funeral. If he loses his Lantern Men and their financial support, the clan will fall apart. When Anden sees Hilo at the funeral, he tells him about Lan’s SN1 use, but Hilo stops him, saying that they must preserve Lan’s image as a proud leader struck down by predatory enemies. As the coffin is lowered into the ground, Hilo says a final goodbye to his brother, confessing that he is insecure about his ability to lead No Peak.